


Haemostasis

by Archadian_Skies



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Original Character Death(s), stab wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 04:45:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11547753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archadian_Skies/pseuds/Archadian_Skies
Summary: Original tumblr prompt: Joseb, One of them gets hurt on the job.





	Haemostasis

The Elk River murderer had played them for fools, and like fools they had walked right into his trap.

The bumbling, introverted and sole survivor of the killings had turned out to be the killer himself, and for the first time in all their years of working together, Sebastian Castellanos had watched Joseph shoot to kill.

More specifically, he had watched Joseph shoot to kill from where his partner stood protectively over him as he lay bleeding out on the kitchen tiles. Sure along the course of his career he’d sported many injuries, but being stabbed thrice and shot through the side weighed on the severe end of the scale.

If he looked at it from Vincent Trager’s point of view, the plan was nothing short of perfect. Play the victim for months, gaining the trust and sympathy of the public as well as all on the case whilst diverting their suspicion. Inform the lead detectives that the current escalation of killings made him anxious and he’d like to relocate to his safe house on the outskirts of Krimson City in its vast nature reserve.

Generously offer the lead detectives permission to approach any time for more information. Sebastian and Joseph had been greeted warmly, and invited in like old friends before Vincent pulled the knife on him. He usually prided himself on how seldom he was caught off guard, but this had been a betrayal of the highest calibre, leaving him stunned and vulnerable.

The knife was sharp, the feel of it cold in his skin as it sank thrice into his body before he could wrestle his gun out. It all happened so fast, but Vincent knew exactly what he was doing as he deflected the gun and forced Sebastian to shoot himself.

Somewhere he heard Joseph shouting, heard Vincent’s crazed laugh and then heard several gunshots, some of which came from his own pistol in Vincent’s hand.

The next sound he heard was the dull thud of a dead body, and Vincent Trager’s smiling face danced just within the corner of his eyes.

“Oh- oh  _shit._ ” Joseph cursed, voice breathy as he dropped to a crouch beside Sebastian, hands hovering as his mind raced at a thousand miles trying to decide what to do. “Okay, wait I’ll get the medkit.”

“Ain’t goin’ nowhere.” Sebastian promised, vision swimming and dull at the edges. It hurt to breathe, to blink, to  _everything_. Joseph gave him an irritated frown before vanishing from his line of sight.

The tiles were suspiciously warm, and Sebastian guessed it was from all his blood leaking out. How could they have missed it? How could Trager have played them so perfectly?

Would he be allowed into heaven, even for a second just long enough to glimpse Lily?

“Sebastian? Seb, hold on!” Joseph came back, falling to his knees and yanking open the large red medkit. “I’ve called the EMTs and the precinct and help’s on its way.”

“When’d we even ge’ tha-?” He slurred, gesturing at the medkit.

“We’ve always had it.” Came the reply as Joseph removed his gloves and rummaged for what he needed. “I insisted on one the moment I was assigned. It’s been in the trunk ever since.”

Sebastian frowned. That long? Hell, this was the first time he was seeing it, which by all accounts was a  _good_ thing in some morbid way. They’d lasted almost a decade without serious injury, though it was a shame they wouldn’t ever reach that milestone now.

The cold prickle of steel made him wince, but it was only a pair of scissors as Joseph cut open his clothing. This was supposed to have been an off-duty, civilian meeting to check on the quiet survivor, so neither of them had worn their bulletproof vests. Trager had probably counted on that.

“ _FUCK!_ “ Sebastian bellowed as Joseph poured disinfectant into the stab wounds. "Hey, that fuckin’  _hurts like hell_!”

"Shut up!” Joseph barked. “I need to clean these before they get infected. And then the GSW, which will first need-” He trailed off into muttering, his eyes flickering to and fro as he categorized and organized  the chain of action needed. Good ol’ Jojo.

“Shit, you’re going to need so much blood.” He ran a hand distractedly through his hair and Sebastian was no doctor but he definitely agreed. “I’m a universal donor, so if the EMTs need an immediate transfusion I can give you my blood.”

“Whoa, you owe me dinner first before you put your fluids in me.” He joked weakly and though Joseph gave a frustrated sigh, the corners of his mouth twitched up briefly. “T-the hell istha-?” The sound of packaging being ripped open and the sight of a wad of thick sticky gauze being held in Joseph’s alarmingly bloodied hands.

“It’s a haemostatic patch.” His tone was distracted as he swiped alcohol over the gaping gunshot wound in the side of his torso, expression flashing to one of sympathy as Sebastian howled in pain. “Clotting aid used to dress wounds and stop bleeding.”

“S’cold.” Sebastian mumbled as Joseph applied it over the entry wound, and another on what he guessed to be a far messier exit wound on his back. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“I took a first-aid course. Didn’t you?” He gave him another irritated frown. “Or did you not pay attention when you did yours? Everything I’m doing now is literally saving your life. What if it had been the other way around? Would you know how to do this? Or would I just die?”

There was panic brimming in his eyes, in his voice, in his escalated breathing and Sebastian knew he was barely holding himself together.

“You wouldn’t. I wouldn’t let you.” Sebastian replied stubbornly. “It wouldn’t have come to this.”

“It might someday, Seb.” Joseph sighed, taping more gauze over the stab wounds before glancing at the doorway for the umpteenth time. “Where the hell are they?!”

“We’re in the middle of nowhere, Joseph. Trager counted on that.” Pulsing in time with his heartbeat, the dark spots in his vision clouded most of his sight until he simply closed his eyes. “And no, I wouldn’t let you die. Not on my watch. Just like I’m not dying on yours, apparently. We’re too stubborn for the likes of that.”

Wet fingertips gently carded through his sticky hair in a rhythmic, soothing manner, and Sebastian tried to steady his pained, shuddering breathing. Any other time, and it might have been romantic, might have been what he’d secretly yearned for after Lily and Myra had left a grievous gaping wound in his heart.

“You’re definitely not dying on mine.” Joseph vowed quietly, his hand moving to gently cover Sebastian’s and twine their bloodied fingers together. “Not today, partner.”

Trying to stay conscious was akin to trying to stay afloat when drowning, but Sebastian fought violently against the comforts the darkness offered. Slipping into sleep would lead to death, and no he didn’t really  fancy doing that anytime soon. Not if Joseph cared enough for the both of them, even when he himself had cared so little about his own well-being during the darker part of his past. He owed him at least that much.

“Th-that patch. What’s it called?” Speaking was a chore, but he had to know.

“A haemostatic dressing.” Joseph answered immediately. “Clotting aid.”

“Good for stopping a lot of bleeding.” Sebastian recited. “Like gunshot wounds.”

“Yes.” He could see the smile in his voice even with his eyes closed. “That’s right.”

“I’ll remember.”

“Good.”

* * *

 

Lungs burning and heart pounding, Sebastian scrambled into the back of the ambulance and shut the doors behind him. The telltale growling and groaning of Haunted outside reiterated he wouldn’t be safe for long, but he had bigger problems.

Back on the bus, Kidman would be defending Joseph as his partner lay there clutching a gunshot wound through his side.

Yanking open the medkit, Sebastian reached for the haemostatic patch.


End file.
